It seems to come naturally to Drexel students to complain about our University’s disgustingly high tuition, nonstop construction, registration time tickets and other things we find undesirable. The term “Shafted” has become a household sarcastic quip in every residence hall and classroom on campus. I have noticed that it has almost become instinct to accuse Drexel of cheating its students from the education that they are paying tens of thousands of dollars to receive. However, Drexel has recently proved these complainers wrong with a new addition to our ever-growing school.
A month into the new year, Drexel is already revving up its innovation to full throttle with the establishment of the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship. The new school was made possible by $12.5 million in donations from the Charles and Barbara Close Foundation.
According to DrexelNow, the school will be one of a kind in Philadelphia and one of the few entrepreneurship schools in the country. The beauty of the Close School is that it takes entrepreneurship off the back burner and allows students of all majors to focus on their entrepreneurial skills as a major. The school will give students the opportunity to build joint degrees through a co-admission with other schools and colleges, giving them a wide range of studies to which they can apply their entrepreneurial skills.
The addition of this new school reflects just how much President John A. Fry cares about the education of his students. I commend our president for picking up Drexel from the ashes after the death of President Constantine N. Papadakis. Students should not expect Drexel to be perfect with the snap of Fry’s fingers. It takes time to reinvent a school, and Fry has chosen to do so from the outside in. Now that construction has been settled (for now), the announcement of the Close School is a breath of fresh air.
Additionally, if you were to play the word association game for “Drexel,” you would most likely think “engineering.” I feel that this is a common misconception to outsiders, who think that most Drexel students are more analytical than creative and lack the artistic flair that schools centered on the arts are known for. In fact, a large percentage of majors here at Drexel, from design and merchandising to music industry, are art driven, and the new entrepreneurship school sparks students’ business creativity. I am pleased that Drexel is tapping into the creative minds of its students through the Close School.
The school’s entrepreneurship co-ops will also give students more freedom with their co-ops. Many students feel that the co-ops available in Drexel’s system do not fit their needs and interests. Allowing students to create their own co-op with their own business ideas will sculpt these entrepreneurs into businesspeople fit to run a well-respected and successful business. This new co-op program gives students the opportunity to create their own business from the get-go, a privilege that most college students do not have.
Drexel has proven itself ready and willing to incubate innovative entrepreneurship ideas and skills, being one of the first schools to reach these heights. I am eager to witness Drexel’s ascent into the entrepreneur world with the help of the new school of entrepreneurship. I am of the belief that Drexel does, in fact, care about the well-being of its students, and all it takes is patience and trust in our innovative president.
Anne Most is the Arts & Entertainment editor at The Triangle. She can be contacted at [email protected].